This is an article from one of our partners GoEast. They are a professional Chinese language training school offering superb online classes!

Recently following the election of the new American president, the Canadian immigration website crashed because of all the new interest to move to Canada. Canada is nice, but it's full of moose and beavers! Why not move to China instead? It's becoming easier to get work visas in China and we have lovely pandas! We at GoEast would love to welcome anyone (especially our American friends) to come to China. First step: get a work visa...

GETTING A WORK VISA IN CHINA

Many don't know this but Shanghai is an experimental city. Recently (November 2016) has implemented the new "Work Permit" policy that will take effect in the rest of China in April 2017. Previous policies involved picking between getting an "Alien Employment Permit" or a "Foreign Expert Certificate". The new policy just has one certificate called the "Foreigners Work Permit".
The Foreigners Work Permit (FWP) is divided into 3 categories:

Class A: 高端才 [Gāo duān cái]-high end talents

Class B: 专业才 [Zhuān yè cái]-professional talents

Class C: 普通员 [Pǔ tōng yuán]-common staff

Generally class A workers will have the easiest time getting into China while class C will have the hardest time. You determine which class you're in by filling out this form which gives you a point score based on the following criteria. Curious about which level you're in? Let's roll!

Salary

Units the middle column are in 10000RMB. The last column is the amount of points

If you haven't already obtained a job in China, this is going to be tough for you. However, if you have an employer in China the annual salary you will receive will affect your application. The more you earn, the higher score you will get. The top bracket is 450,000 RMB and receives 20 points. For example, if I earn 150,000 RMB a year, I will have 11 points from this section.

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent: 10 points

Master's degree or equivalent: 15 points

Doctorate degrees or equivalent: 20 points

Relevant Working Experience

If you have at least 2 years work experience for your position you'll be able to get 5 points. Each extra year after that will add 1 point. For example, if you have relevant working experience for 5 years, 5 points for the first 2 years and 3 points for the extra 3 years for 8 points in total.

Work Term

How long do you work every year? You get 5 points for every 3 month per year that you work.

Chinese Level

HSK matters! Even an HSK 1 test will get you 2 points with a maximum of 10 points for an HSK 5 test. You can also earn 10 points if your bachelor's degree was taught in Chinese.

Work Location

If you'd like to work in the Chinese interior then you'll earn more points than if you'll live on coastal regions. You'd also be able to get more points if you live in a lower income area, or an older industrial region. Any one of these will net you 10 points.

Age

Depending on your age you can get more or less points. The most valuable age range is between 26-45. That age range gets you 15 points!

Alumni Status

If your either an alumni from a world renowned university (determined by the Chinese government) or employed by a global top 500 enterprise you can get 5 points each.

Encouragement Points

You can get up to 10 points if you're of a talent group that is in demand by the provincial department in charge of managing foreigners.

HOW MANY POINTS DID YOU GET?

Unfortunately there's no real scale that guarantees you an A, B, or C level visa, but each point that you earn will get you that much closer to your Chinese escape.
An easy and useful way to get points is to earn some HSK levels. If you spend some time to improving your skills with the ancient magic language you'll be more likely to get a job/visa in China and you'll be better able to navigate the country as well.
If you need some help passing your HSK tests we offer courses tailor made to help you pass your HSK tests. Book a trial lesson now to give us a try!

This blog is provided by GoEast, Professional Chinese Language Training. Zhang Yan, is the newest member of the GoEast Team. She is passionate about teaching Chinese as a second language and takes great interests in Chinese and western cultures. Especially Western TV shows!

This is the accompanying blog post for our advanced lesson "How to get a Chinese work visa".You can read the entire lesson for free using Du Chinese, available for iPhone and Android.Click here for more information.